The Queen has seen Netflix's The Crown, and she 'really liked it'

It's a question pondered by most viewers of Netflix's lavish royal drama The Crown – "I wonder if the Queen watches this?"

Now, we have an answer: Yes, and she's a fan, a senior royal source has told the UK's Express.

The series – which, during its ten-episode first season, followed the early years of Elizabeth II's reign, from her marriage to Prince Philip in 1947 to her volatile relationship with outgoing sister Margaret – was introduced to the Queen by her son and daughter-in-law, the Earl and Countess of Wessex. 

"Edward and Sophie love The Crown," the royal source explained. 

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"It has been a longstanding arrangement that they drive to Windsor at the weekend to join the Queen for an informal supper while watching TV or a film. They have a Netflix account and urged her to watch it with them.

"Happily, she really liked it, although obviously there were some depictions of events that she found too heavily dramatised," the source said.

The series also has its following among younger royals too, with Princess Eugenie and Zara, the Queen's granddaughters, saying they are "addicted" to the series.

"The story is beautiful and you feel very proud to watch it," Eugenie, the daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, the Duke and Duchess of York, told the Express.

The series – which, with its $175 million budget, is the most expensive TV show ever produced – earned two prizes at January's Golden Globes, including Best Television Series (Drama) and Best Actress (TV Series Drama) for Claire Foy's nuanced take on the 91-year-old matriarch.

The show's second of a proposed six seasons is due to debut on Netflix in November, with Foy and co-star Matt Smith (Prince Philip) recently revealing it will focus on the couple's marriage woes during London's swinging '60s, amid infidelity rumours.

"They've been together for ten years, they've had two children and it's about going and assessing the situation... It's not going to be a rose-tinted view of marriage," Foy told The Hollywood Reporter.